Politician charged over former Emirates Airline Stewardess suicide

A Delhi court has ordered charges of abetment against a billionaire Indian ex-minister over the suicide of a former Emirates Airline stewardess.

Indian police concluded their investigation in the UAE.

Geetika Sharma hanged herself from a ceiling fan in India last August. The 23-year-old allegedly left a note stating she was ending her life due to “harassment” by former Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda.

Sharma’s family claim the politician, and his aide Aruna Chaddha, had been tormenting Sharma to quit her job with the Dubai airline and return to work for Kanda’s now defunct domestic airline.

It is alleged he used his contacts to try and get her sacked from Emirates, sending emails to her bosses, questioning her character.

Deputy Commissioner of Delhi Police P Karunakaran travelled to Dubai to speak with Emirates officials and collect details of Kanda’s emails to Sharma, as well as emails sent by employees of his company to Emirates.

On Friday, Indian police said that they had electronic data to prove that Kanda and Chadha were obsessed with Sharma, which led to the charges.

Indian police said duo had unleashed “a series of wilful and malicious acts of mental torture, threat, blackmail and stress” on her which drove her to take the extreme step.

In its supplementary chargesheet, police said that the probe showed that Kanda tried to have Sharma fired from her Dubai job with “the ulterior motive of sexually exploiting her”. He resigned his ministerial role when the scandal emerged.